Adoration: “Hallowed Be Thy Name”

Matthew 6:5–15

The Lord’s Prayer acts like a guide on how to pray, emphasizing that God is our heavenly Father and His name should be honored above all. To “hallow” means to make something most important in our lives. This teaches us that praising and loving God should be the main part of our lives. It shows us the importance, priority, and structure of praise and helps us apply these in our prayers.

1. The importance of praise

Praise is vital for everyone, not just Christians. Real prayer, done privately and regularly, shows a deep desire to love and appreciate God, expressing our deepest cares and loves. The consistency of our prayer life, especially when what we value most is in danger, shows our true faith and reassures us of our Christianity.

2. Praise comes first

Praising God should be the main part of prayer and life. It can help solve problems with how we see the world and ourselves. Our self-forgiveness and self-worth should come from what we value and love most, ideally God’s grace, not from what others expect from us. If we think that God not giving us everything means He doesn’t want us to have anything, we’ll have a twisted view of the world and ourselves. But, through loving God, we can learn to accept ourselves and the world as they are.

3. The structure of praise

Understanding God as our Father helps us see His deep love and mercy, along with His power and glory. This knowledge of His fatherly and heavenly nature is freeing and comforting. The more we understand His love, the more we see His greatness. Only through Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross can we fully understand a God who is completely holy and loving, whose love heals and corrects our misunderstandings.